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Ecological Utopia: A Study of Three Literary Utopias in the 1970s
scarcity. These literary utopias, elsewhere called “critical utopias” 4 (Moylan 10-12),
are also unique in their drastic difference from pastoral utopias of the nineteenth
century. While pastoral utopias of the nineteenth century suffer from
anthropocentrism, 5 the 1970s utopias deliberately distance themselves from any
assertion of human values at the expense of the ecosystem. The three utopias under
discussion all bear eloquent testimony to this endorsement of ecological wisdom.
Callenbach’s Ecotopia, a country breaking away from America and composed of
Washington, Oregon, and Northern California, is a case in point. Its divergence from
the gospel of affluence may be pinpointed in an observation by William Weston, an
American reporter dispatched by the Times-Post to report on the current affairs of
Ecotopia: “[M]ankind, the Ecotopians assumed, was not meant for production, as
the 19th and early 20th centuries had believed. Instead, humans were meant to take
their modest place in a seamless, stable-state web of living organisms, disturbing
that web as little as possible” (47). Earlier in the novel Weston especially targets
America as a negative example: “Ecotopia still poses a nagging challenge to the
underlying national philosophy of America: ever-continuing progress, the fruits of
industrialization for all, a rising Gross National Product” (4). Contrary to what is
being practiced in America, Ecotopia endorses the idea of ‘ecological economics’ or
‘sustainable economics’ and adopts several measures to reduce the harm done to the
environment under capitalism. All these changes indeed cause havoc in the
transitional period and bring discomfort to the general public, 6 and yet gradually a
new era is ushered in, marked by “the aspiration to live in balance with nature” and
“treat the earth as a mother” (32).
This aversion to capitalism on the part of Ecotopia may best be detected in its
severe criticism of capitalist consumer culture. As Weston makes it clear, in
Ecotopia
many consumer items are considered ecologically offensive and are
simply not available, so nobody had them: thus electric can openers, hair
curlers, frying pans, and carving knives are unknown. And to curb
industrial proliferation the variety which is so delightful in our department
4 Moylan refers to them as a “subversive utopianism” upholding, among others, “ecological
wisdom” (10).
5 See, for example, Glen A. Love’s analysis of the “anthropocentric assumptions” inherent
in pastoral in general and especially in William Dean Howells’s Altrurian romances
(65-88; 157-162).
6 As Weston reports, “Certainly many citizens were deprived of hard-earned comforts they
had been used to: their cars, their prepared and luxury foods, their habitual new clothes
and appliances, their many efficient service industries.” (49)
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Ecological Utopia: A Study of Three Literary Utopias in the 1970s
ascertained by the feeling of congeniality that Alaka harbors toward the river:
“Earthsister,” she said aloud to the water, “I want to join you.”
The word seemed to come from all around her. “Join.” A simple
response. (11)
Instead of a mute Other, Nature here assumes the identity of a partner and is
articulate. Further in the journey, Alaka encounters some fish, which likewise join
her in the spirit of comradeship:
In one strong and wide stroke her hand encountered a fish. Just the brisk
touch of a mutual greeting. There were other touches, too. She
particularly welcomed the river dwellers bold enough to swim with and
about her. (11)
What is even more remarkable, in this depiction of the union of humans and nature,
is how nature can offer a succoring hand to those in need. The following description
of how Alaka is helped by fish may suffice:
With only tacit awareness now of her swimming, she shortstretched to
the companions who swam with her.
A whole school responded as if one fish. “You are in trouble?”
“Yes,” she sent back. “I need air and light.”
“Not far away,” assured the fish. “A few more of your strokes.”
Alaka almost exploded the remainder of her air in relief. Instead she
forced herself to release it slowly. “Thank you, waterones. May you go
well and come again!”
“And again. And again. And again,” sang the fish. The refrain seemed to
echo forward and back in the surrounding water. (12)
By the end of the journey, we again witness another case of nature offering succor
and shelter to humans. Only this time it is a tree:
A large tree root helped her out of the water. She did not shake the drops
from her hair or her body. It might be too soon. Quietly she stood by the
giant who had helped her up. Was it a cypress? Too big. A kind of
willow maybe. Its roots were almost completely undercut now by a swift
bend in the river.
“Thank you,” she said in mindstretch to the tree.
“Again if you need me,” responded the tree.
“Stay well,” she chanted inside.
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Ecological Utopia: A Study of Three Literary Utopias in the 1970s
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